ABSTRACT

Home Schooling and Home Education provides an original account of home education and examines ways in which the discourses of home education are understood and contextualised in different countries, such as the UK and USA. By exploring home education in the global and local context of traditional schooling, the book bridges a much-needed gap in educational and social scientific research.

The authors explore home education from two related perspectives: firstly how and why home education is accessed by different social groups; and secondly, how these groups are perceived as home educators. The book draws upon empirical case study research with those who use home education to address issues of inequality, difference and inclusion, before offering suggestions for viable policy shifts in this area, as well as broadening understandings of risk and marginality. It engages and initiates debates about alternatives to the standard schooling model within a critical sociological context.

The scholarly emphasis and original nature of Home Schooling and Home Education makes this essential reading for academics and postgraduate researchers in the fields of education and sociology, as well as for educational policymakers.

chapter 1|8 pages

Introduction

chapter 2|12 pages

Global perspectives of home education

chapter 4|17 pages

Middle-class families

‘Our children do better at home’

chapter 5|16 pages

Gypsies and Travellers

‘We have always educated our children at home’

chapter 6|16 pages

Religion

‘We want our children to learn specific values’

chapter 7|19 pages

Special educational needs and disability

‘Most schools don’t want and have never wanted our children’

chapter 8|16 pages

Race and ethnicity

Local, global or cosmopolitan identities?

chapter 9|6 pages

Conclusions

Home education, risk and belonging